First Line Software has been a reliable and trustworthy partner of Optimizely for over a decade. We’ve completed a wide range of projects, from migration to building complicated portals for B2C and B2B clients. What’s our secret? Recruiting the best people. Finding and hiring them is one thing, but it is completely different to keep them. After our stellar recruitment team identifies the talent, it falls to the Operational Directors and Department Managers to foster their growth and success.
It’s no secret that our business relies on providing skilled developers to clients with very specific needs and requirements. At First Line Software, we are proud to say that we fulfill these needs in most cases, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. Obviously, we can’t afford to search for and hire a specialist for each specific task that comes our way. Nor do we want to do it.
Our approach is simple and efficient. To bridge the gap between client needs and developer skillsets, we combine the knowledge and expertise of our delivery and sales teams with our department managers, who have a deep understanding of their teams’ strengths and weaknesses. We carefully reviewed all the past requests from our partners over the years, looked through the profiles of our developers, and devised a strategy on how to upskill them to fulfill any potential requests. Beyond pure tech skills, we carefully considered cultural fit. As our company is truly international, we value diverse perspectives and understand that different cultures have different approaches to motivation. We tailor our communication and onboarding processes to ensure everyone feels welcome and supported, setting them up for success.
As a result of this exercise, we can proudly say that we have several great full-stack developers and certified specialists in Optimizely CMS and Commerce, Sitefinity, Microsoft Azure, and many others. Our team of developers is familiar with Shopify, GraphQL, and headless content management systems (CMS). They are experts at updating older CMS and migrating platforms from one vendor to another between vendors. For example, our team successfully migrated to Znode and is now in the process of migrating to WordPress from a third-party CMS.
We encourage our developers to actively participate in activities outside of their projects. Four months ago, one of our lead Optimizely developers launched an internal “Opti Club” where everyone is welcome to share ideas, tips, and tricks, and seek advice. First Line Software’s Opti Club keeps our developers up to speed and gives them a space to develop new things and experiment with AI tools. Several of our developers are very active in outside communities, have blogs, participate in external meet-ups, and so on.
This approach to developer upskilling has proven to be quite successful. Following this method, one of our developers has managed to become proficient in three different DX systems.
Over the course of six months, we’ve establisheded a certain routine to develop our people. It differentiates us from similar companies on the market, because we’re able to quickly adapt to changes in our clients’ needs. His approach also keeps our developers engaged because they always have new, challenging tasks to perform.
The ever-evolving digital landscape demands a workforce that can adapt and excel. At First Line Software, we understand that our greatest asset is our people. By investing in their continuous learning and development, we ensure that we can deliver exceptional results for our clients, no matter the challenge.
Your Digital Experience Expert
Innokenty Puntikov
Department Manager at First Line Software.
Innokenty Puntikov is an expert in the IT market with a deep understanding of industry trends and dynamics. His educational background in cross-cultural management and an MBA in International Business helps him excel in his role as Department Manager at First Line Software. Leading a global team of nearly 80 professionals, Innokenty focuses on matching the best people with the right projects, enhancing both client satisfaction and team engagement. While he enjoys supporting startups in his free time, his primary focus is on developing effective strategies to upskill his team and meet diverse client needs.
Clinovera
